Jacquelyn Gill stood entranced inside a permafrost cave in Siberia. Woolly mammoth tusks protruded through glistening walls. A lion cub, dead for 30,000 or more years, appeared as if it was napping.

“In those 30 minutes (inside the cave), I had the opportunity to get closer to the landscape I’ve devoted my career to understanding than the rest of my whole life as a scientist,” said the University of Maine paleoecologist.

For as long as anyone can remember, there’s been a 15-stool Palace Diner in Biddeford—in fact, it’s been there as long as its habitat, a 1927 Pollard train car, was first built. And until recently, the food was what one would expect at this little Disneyland curio, tucked in the corner of a parking lot at 18 Franklin Street, overshadowed by the hulking, empty 1890 Marble Block mercantile building.